The three Alabama running backs in the NFL will be part of the national TV package for this weekend's preseason games. Eddie Lacy and the Green Bay Packers host the Oakland Raiders on Friday night. Mark Ingram and the New Orleans Saints visit Trent Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night.

Lacy, Ingram and Richardson were Crimson Tide teammates in 2010. Each had at least one stellar season for Alabama. But in the NFL, their fortunes have diverged with Lacy earning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award last season, and Ingram and Richardson enjoying only occasional success.

The third game of the NFL preseason usually is considered a dress rehearsal for the regular season, with starters playing perhaps into the third quarter, then sitting out the final preseason contests next week. There have been hints out of Green Bay's training camp, though, that the coaches have seen what they need out of Lacy. In his only preseason appearance, Lacy ran for 25 yards on five carries and caught two passes for 22 yards on the opening series in last week's 21-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams.

Ingram and Richardson have started both preseason games. In the Saints' two victories, Ingram has rushed 13 times for 102 yards and a touchdown with two receptions for 27 yards and a TD. He's been New Orleans' leading rusher in both games. In the Colts' two losses, Richardson has rushed 14 times for 34 yards with one reception for 4 yards. He has not scored.

Week 3 of the NFL preseason kicks off on Thursday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Philadelphia Eagles at 6:30 CDT for a game televised by NFL Network. The Eagles, who got 104 receiving yards from former Madison Academy standout Jordan Matthews last week, have scored 63 points in two preseason losses. The Steelers, with 35 points, are 1-1.

On Friday, Lacy's Packers host Oakland for a 7 p.m. game televised by CBS. NFL Network will join the Chicago Bears-Seattle Seahawks game in progress from the West Coast at the conclusion of the CBS telecast.

On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' visit to the Buffalo Bills will be televised by NFL Network at 3:30 p.m. The Saints-Colts game is set for CBS at 7 p.m. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees has missed the first two preseason games with an oblique injury, but is scheduled to play on Saturday.

On Sunday, Fox will show the San Diego Chargers-San Francisco 49ers game from the new Levi's Stadium in San Jose, Calif., at 3 p.m. NBC has the Cincinnati Bengals-Arizona Cardinals game at 7 p.m. The Cardinals lost defensive tackle Darnell Dockett to a season-ending knee injury this week. Rookie Ed Stinson from Alabama is one of the players that Arizona hopes will help fill the void.

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Fans tuning in for the first two weeks of the preseason have seen plenty of yellow flags. The NFL has experimented with an eighth official on the field during the preseason, with his primary responsibility to look for defensive holding, a point of emphasis from the league office to NFL officiating crews. Other points of emphasis were hands to the face, illegal contact on pass receivers, offensive pass interference and false starts.

Through the 33 preseason games, 756 penalties have been called - 230 more than the same point last year, or an average of seven more penalties per game. Of those penalties, 111 have been for defensive holding and 56 have been for illegal contact on receivers.

The NFL's experiment with placing the ball on the 15-yard line for extra-point attempts ended with last week's games. The ball goes back to the 2 starting with Thursday night's game. Place-kickers connected on 125 of 133 extra-point attempts from the longer distance. During the 2013 regular season, place-kickers missed five of 1,267 attempts from the 2-yard line.